Collaboration through e-activities

In unit 4 of the MOOC "Open eTwinning" we are asked to design an ICT activity as a part of the collaborative project we've been working on along the last days, so here I am with my idea of a collaborative e-activity for "The Hungry Globetrotter" (read this entry to know more about the project).

One key point of any project is collaboration. In eTwinning projects this collaboration among students who are so far becomes real thanks to a wide range of digital tools and apps. 

First thing of all, teachers from the three partner schools will need to discuss the organizational aspects, among which the transnational teams will have special importance, since our pupils will have the chance to be in touch and interact. We would also need to consider our groups' ages as well as both languages and ICT skills in order to choose the most suitable language and tools to carry out our project.

Once the teams are formed and pupils have introduced themselves, they will have their first collaborative task. We need each team to decide a healthy menu with three dishes (final result for this concrete activity). This can be done by either having each country suggesting options for only one of the dishes (country 1 suggests first courses and appetizers, country 2 will do main courses and country 3 desserts) or offering one menu with three dishes and then the team chooses which dish from which country they want to work on. The result must be a complete menu with first course from country 1, main course from country 2 and dessert from country 3.  

At first, I thought we could use a forum on the TwinSpace, but considering my 7 year-old children, and the need to have a user and a password, I changed my mind. I think we might use padlet for this task. Its use is very easy, and I find it great for brainstorming. It adapts well to my pupils age and skills. Children could post their suggestions and preferences, and make comments on the other team members' posts too. I will ask students to write the name of their team and country on the title on the post, so as to know which post belongs to which team. They will also have a different part of the board for their messages, so everyone can find their team's posts more easily. You can also see those two fictional teams have followed different strategies to suggest ideas.  

I hope the image helps clarifying my idea (click to see it bigger). 

The great thing is they can even post pictures (or links to pictures and galleries) of the dishes they want to work on, so partners from other countries can have an idea what everything looks like, if they might like it, if they could cook it...

I've also taken on account my group might need some extra help, as they're still beginners at English and might not know some tools. I would consider the idea of inviting a couple of parents to some sessions, so they can provide the groups with extra help if they need to make a photo collage, write some sentences in English... Children would still do things by themselves, but parents and I could split and work as guidance for two teams each. At the same time, families become active part of the eTwinning project and it also helps spread the word. Parents love to be involved in their children's learning process! Parents could complete a simple survey afterwards, to provide feedback about the activity and share any comments and opinions they may have.

The objectives I intend to achieve with this collaborative activity are:
- Get in touch and start interacting with other European students.
- Facilitate the use of ESL in a more natural situation.
- Use of ICT tools (padlet) to collaborate for a common goal.
- Develop a habit and positive attitude towards healthy food/menus.

As to evaluate this activity, when the groups have made their decisions we can check if the menu is healthy enough by looking at the food pyramid: does the menu include the correct portions of each stage of the pyramid? We can actually evaluate the interactions and use of the second language on the Padlet board.

Once each team has decided the 3-dishes menu, they will realize some other activities, like writing the recipes, calculating the cost of the dishes, etc. But that would be at different moments of the project.

Please make your comments and suggestions -they help me improve!